Friction clutch



D. E. GAMBLE FRICTION CLUTCH Filed Amr. 27, 1925 VIVA A 'Patented May17,1927.

UNITED STATES PATENT y 1,628,877 OFFICE.

DAVID E. GAMBLE, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, AssIeNoIi. To 'ran none a' BECKcom'- PANY, 4or cIIIcAeo, ILLINOIS, A coRronA'rIoN or ILLINOIS.

FRICTION CLUTCH.

Application led August 27, 1923. Serial No. 659,482.

My invention relates to a friction clutch,

i and more particularly to a friction clutch adapted to be employed inconnection with motor driven vehicles and the like.

My invention contemplates a friction clutch having anovel arrangement ofparts thereof affect the driven shaft to a veryl small extent when 'thedriving and driven elements of the clutch are thrown out of fric-vtional engagement.

An object of my invention isto provide an improved friction clutch forrotating a o driven shaft, the friction clutch having only a singlemember thereof secured to the driven shaft to rotate therewith.

Other objects of my invention will become apparent as the detaildescription progresses,

a reference befng had to the accompanying drawings, wherein- Fig. 1 is alongitudinal section through afriction clutch embodying the novelfeatures of'my invention, and

Fig. 2 is a section taken on line 2 2 of Fig. 1 with portions brokenaway.

Similar characters of reference designate similar parts through theseveral viewsf In the drawing. the reference character designates thedriving end of a crank shaft, such as is usually employed in motordriven vehicles or the like.y The crank shaft 10 is provided withan'annular flange 11 to which is rigidly lsecured by means of bolts 12 afly wheel 13.I The ily wheel 13 has an annular {ian e 14 formedintegrally therewith and projecting longitudinally from one facethereof. A circular plate .or disk 15, which rests'against the outeredge of the annularfiange 14, and is secured ,thereto by bolts 16, iscentrally apertured as at 17 to permita driven shaft 19 'to project intoAchamber 20 formed by means of the fly wheel 13, annular flange 14 anddisk 15. The inner end of the driven shaft. 19 is rotatably journaled ina pilot bearing 22 disposedin the driving end of the crank shaft 10, theaxes of the crank shaft -10 'and driven shaft 19 being coincident. Afriction disk 23, disposed within the chambarv 0, is splined to thecompactness and ease of operation.

driven shaft 19 by means of a sleeve 24 to which the friction disk 23 isrigidi secured by rivets 25. It is apparent that t Iedriven shaft 19will rotate with the friction disk 23 and that the friction disk 23 maybe moved longitudinally of therdriven shaft 19. Dis-Aposedconcentrically with the friction disk 23 and also disposed within,the chamber 20 is a thrust ring 26 having va plurality of transverseslots 27 adaptedto receive the heads of aplurality of pins 28 pressed ordriven into the annular flange 14. The pinsy 28 cause the thrust ring'26 to rotate with the ily wheel 13, but permit tho thrust ring to bemoved longitudinally ofthe fly wheel 13 and driven shaft 19. A pair offriction rings 30 and 31 are provided, the friction ring 30 beingdisposed between the outer face of the fly wheel 13 and the f riction.fdisk 23, and the friction ring 31 being disposed between the frictiondisk 23 and the thrust ring 26. As 1s well known to those skilled in theart, if the thrust ring 26 is forced toward the fly wheel 13,' thefriction material 30 and 31 will frictionally engage the fly wheel 13,friction disk 23 and thrust ring 26 to provide a driving engagementbetween the crank shaft 10 and the driven shaft 19. i

To force the thrust ring 26 .in a direction toward the fly wheel 13 'soas to effect the aforementioned driving en agement between the crankshaft 1() and riven shaft 19 l provide a plurality of levers 32 whichare arranged radially with respect to the coincident axes of the crankshaft 10 and driven shaft 19. Each of the levers 32 is pivotally securedintermediate its ends by a pin 33 to aring 34. The ringv 34 is securedto the disk 15 by a plurality of bolts 35. whch pass througharcuate'slots 36 formed in the disk 15 andare threaded into the ring 34.1t is apparent that the ring 34 may be angularly adjusted with respectto the disk 15 and the thrust ring 26'so that the outwardly extendinvarms 37 of the levers 32 may be adjuster angularly of the calnluedthrust seats 38 formed upon the thrust ring 26. The purpose ot' thisconstruction will presently appear.

The inwardly extending arm 40 of each of the levers 32 is inclined awayfrom the flywheel 13, and ridesin an annular groove 41 turned in acollar 42 arranged concentrically with the axis of the; (iria-cnslilfi't 19. The collar 42` is rotatably journaled upon a clutchthrow-out sleeve 43 which is .in turn rotatably journaled upon thedrivenshaft 19 cut .in closecontact therewith, a ball bearing 44 havinginner and outer races 45 and 46 respectively being interposed-betweenthe collar 42 and the sleeve 43. It will be noted that the collar 42 isdisposed partially within and partially without the chamber 20, thuspermitting it to engage the levers 32 which are within the chamber, andto cooperate with a spiral spring 47 which is without the chamber. 'lhespiral spring 47 is in the form of a flattenedV cone, and is disposedsubstantially parallel withl the tevers'52 between an annular flange 48formed integral with the collar 42 and a lplurality of shoulders 49struck out from the disk 15. The spiral spring 47' yieldingly vforcesthe collar 42 to the right (Fig. 1) thereby causing the outwardlyextending arms 37 of the levers 32 to force the thrust ring 26 in adirection toward the ily wheel 13, which results, as

' aforesaid, in a driving engagement between the crank shaft 10 and thedriven shaft 19. By disposing vthe elements as just described a verycompact arrangement is achieved.

The 'thrust seats 38 which are engaged by the arms 37 `vof the levers 32are inclined with respect to any transverse plane passing through thefriction clutch. If the ring 34 is adjusted angularly in a clockwisedirection (Fig. 2) with respect to the disk 15, and thrust rino' 26, thearms 37 of the levers 32 may lbe brought to any desired positionsvrelative to the thrust seats 38. An adjustment of the ring 34 in themanner and direction described will cause the distance between thethrust seat engaging surtace of any one of the arms 37 and the frictionring engaging surface of the ythrust ring 26 to be increased. Thisconstruction will permit the operator to adjust the clutch whenever anyof -the friction surfaces of any of the frictional engaging members ofthe clutch wear away. I Y

To release the fly wheel 13, friction rings 3() and 31, friction disk 23and thrust ring 26 from driving engagement with one`another, a forkedthrow-out lever 50 pivotally secured in the crank case 51 as at 52 maybe manuallyoperatedto engage and move the sleeve 43 to the le'ft (Fig.1). Movement of the sleeve'43 in the manner described will cause thecollar 42 to move in the same direction and theV movement of the sleeve43 will beimparted to the collar 42 through the cojnbined thrust andradial bearing 44. The resulting displacement of the collar 42 willcause the arms 37 of the levers 32 to draw away from the thrust seats38, thus breaking therdrivingr connection between the crank shaft l0 anddriven shaft 19. The .sleeve 43,9which rotates with the shaft 19 whenthe clutch is in, will now be held stationary by the pressureof thelthrow-out lever 50 and will brake the shaft 19, bringing it to a quickstop.

In the operation of the device, the spiral spring 47 will at all timesyieldingly hold the levers 32 in positionsv wherein they cause theseveral friction members of the clutch to form a. driving connectionbetween the crank shaft and driven shaft 19, unless the operator.desires to throw out the clutch, which he accomplishes by means of theforked lever 50 in a manner described above and well known to thoseskilled'in the art.

It will be noted that in the construction of my improved friction clutchonly a single rotating element is secured'to the driven shaft to rotatetherewith, namely the ,friction disk 23 which is splined to the drivenshaft 19 by means of the sleeve 24. I have placed the rotatablyjournaled sleeve 43 between the driven shaft 19 `and the collar'42 Vtoavoid a frictional driving engagement between the collar 42 and thedriven shaft 19,

as the spiral spring 47 tends to rotate the collar 42 in'l unison withthe disk 15. If the. construction were such that the collar 42 contactedor was rotatably journaled upon the driven shaft 19, the collar 42 wouldtend to rotate the driven shaft 19 after the driving connection betweenthe crank shaft 10 and driven shaft 19 had been broken. The introductionof the ball bearing 44 between the collar 42 and the sleeve 43mitigatesany tendency of the collar 42 to drive the sleeve 43, and hencethe driven shaft 19 when the frictioually engageable members of theclutch are in disenagaged/positions. At-.the

same time the sleeve 43 acts as a brake on, the shaft 19 when the clutchis thrown out,

as described above.

I have learned that with this constructionv any change speed gearingassociated with the driven shaft 19 may be easily and quicklymanipulated directly. after the clutch is thrown out, as the-absence ofcontact by the driven shaft 19 with any part of the clutch. which tends`to be continuously rotated with the crank shaft 10 whenever the crankshaft l() is rotated, lessens the inertiaof the driven shaft 19 andpermits'if to come to rest within a comparatively short` period of timeafter the lclutch is thrown out.-

A detail of construction4 of my` improved friction clutch, adding to thecompactness of the clutch and reducing the weight of the clutch, is thedesign of the several levers 32 which,`. as shown 'in the drawing, arestraight levers and notot` the bell-crank type. By employing levers 32of the design illustrated and described, the distance between lthefrictioually engaged surface of the ily wheel 13 and the disk 15 isreduced to a minimum.

Also a substantial advantage is gained by` Ilil a a driving connectioncasting the annular flange 14 integral with the fly wheel 13, as theannular flange 14 may perform a portion'of the function of the fly Wheeland at the same time provide means especially adapted for establishingbetween \the fly Wheel 13 and the ring 26, as well `as providing means`,for carrying the disk 15.

The sleeve 43 is journaled upon the driven shaft as stated, butnevertheless has close Contact therewith throughout its circumference,as plainly shown in the drawing'and as now described in thespecification. lVhen the clutch is thrown in and both shafts arerevolving at. the same speed, obviously the sleeve 43 will rotateu-'iththe driven shaft because of this contact. When, however, thethrowont lever 50 is brought into contact with the sleeve, its rotationis stopped, while that ofthe shaft continues. There fore, it is believedobvious that the sleeve must act as a brake.

While I have shown my improved friction.

clutch as comprising a pair of friction rings 30 and 31, it is to beunderstood that I may replace, in some instances, the friction ringswith any suitable friction material which may be secured to the frictiondisk 23 in any `suitable manner and that this change may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit of my invention.

I am aware that changes in the form, con-v y' struction and arrangementof parts may be made without departing from the spirit and withoutsacrificing the. advantages of the invention and I reserve the right tomake all such changes as fairly fall within the scope of the followingclaims.

I claim: p

1. In a friction clutch, thecombination of a driving element, a drivenshaft, a driven element rotatablewith said driven shaft and movablelongitudinally thereof, means car- .tatably journaled upon with saidthrust ring,

ried by the driving element cmbracing'the driven element, a thrust ring,a sleeve rotlie driven shaft, a collar rotatably journaled upon saidsleeve, means operatively connecting said collar and yielding meansdisposed without t-he embracing means and cooperating with said collarfor causing said connecting means to hold the driving and drivenelements in frictional engagement.

2. In a friction clutch, the combination of a driving element, av drivenshaft, a driven element adapted to rotate said driven shaft .and movablelongitudinally thereof, pivotal means for bringing the driven velementinto'l frictional engagement with the driving ele-.i`` ment, meanscarried by the driving element for embracing said driven elementand saidpivotal means', a sleeve rotatably ]ournaled upon said driven shaft, acollar- -frotatablysaid :callar enjournaled upon, said sleeve,

and.,y yielding gagiug said pivotal means,

',Qdriving means,

means disposed without the embracing meansand cooperating with saidcollar for causing said pivotal means to hold the driving and drivenelements' in frictional engagement.

3. In a friction clutch, the combination with a driving element, adriven shaft, a driven element adapt-ed to rotate said driven shaft andmovable longitudinally thereof, a thrust ring, friction materialinterposed between the driving element and the driven element andbetween the driven element and the thrust ring, pivotal meansoperatively engaging the thrust ring, means carried by the drivingelement for embracing the friction material, driven element, thrust ringand the pivotal means, a sleeve rotatably journaled on the driven shaft,a collar rotatably jonrnaled upon the sleeve and adapted to operativelyengage said pivotal means, and yielding means disposed without saidembracing means and cooperating with said collar for causing the pivotalmeans to hold the driving and driven elements in f-rictional engagement.y

4. In a friction clutch, the combination of a driving element, a drivenshaft, a driven element adapted to rotate said driven shaft and movablelongitudinally thereof, a thrust ring, friction rings interposed drivingelement and the driven element and between the driven element and thethrust ring, r-cammed thrust seats formed upon the thrust ring, pivotalmeans engaging said cammed thrust seats, means rotated by the drivingelement otal means, means carried by the driving element for Vembracingthe friction rings. the driven element, the thrust ring, the pivotalmeans and said supporting means.

-means for angnlarly adjusting said supportya driving element, a drivenshaft, a driven element adapted to rotate said driven shaft and movablelongitudinally thereof, a thrust ring, cammed thrust seats f ormed upontbe thrust ring, pivotal means engagin said cammed thrust seats meansrotated iy the Y element for supporting `said pivotal means carried bythe `driving element, for embracing ythe driven element. thrust ring,the pivotal lmeans andsaid suport-ing means, means for angularly'adJusting said supported means'ifwith respect to the thrust ring, asleeve rotatably )ournaljed npbetween the tali G In a friction clutch,the combination,

of a driving element, a driven shaft a driven element rotatable withsaid driven shaft and movable longitudinally thereof, a sleeve rotatablyjournaled upon the drivenyshaft, a collar rotatably journaled upon saidsleeve, an anti-friction bearing between said collar and sleeve, athrust ring, means operatively connecting said collar with said thrustring, yielding means engaging said collar for causing said connectingmeans to hold the driving and driven elements in frictional engagement,operating means engaging said sleeve, and means forming a chamber, saidyielding means being disposed outside said chamber and said collar beingdisposed partially within and partially without said chamber.

7. In a friction drive the combination with a driving element, of adriven shaft, a

friction disk mounted on the driven shaft to rotate'therewith andmovable longitudinally thereof, a thrust ring rotatable with the drivingelement and movable longitudinally thereof, a cammed thrust seat formed`upon the thrust ring, a second ring mounted to rotate with the drivinelement, means for angularly adjusting tie second ring with respect tothe driving element, a'lever pivotally secured to the second ring andadapted to move the thrust ring to establish frictional engagementbetween the friction disk and driving element, a sleeve rotatablyjournaled upon the driven shaft, a collar rotatably journaled upon thesleeve and engaged by the level', means disposed between the drivingelement and the sleeve for yieldingly forcing the collar and sleeve in adirection away from the driving element, the collar and sleeve beingadapted to move as a unit longitudinally of the driven shaft, and meansfor forcing the sleeve toward thepdriving element.

8. In combination, a driving shaft a driven shaft, a clutch tooperatively connect said shafts, a sleeve on said driven shaft, a collarsurrounding said sleeve, an anti-friction bearing between saidcollar andsleeve, connections between said collar andvsaid clutch to control saidclutch, means to engage said sleeve to throw said clutch out c."operation, and a yieldin element disposed a out! said bearing lanpartially within the plane ofsaid bearing, engagement of said means withsaid sleeve causing said sleeve to act as 'a brake upon said drivenshaft.

In combination, a driving shaft, a :driven shaft, a friction diskcarried by said siliently maas?? driven shaft, a flywheel carried bysaid driving shaft ,and contacting with said disk, a thrust ringengagingsaid disk and having cammed thrust seats thereon an embracing elementcarried by the flywheel, radially' dis- 'posed levers carried by saidflywheel and pivoted between their ends thereon, and means disposedwithout said embracing element to resiliently urge an end of each ofsaid levers into engagement with one of said thrust seats.

l0. In combination, a driving shaft, a fiywheel thereon, a driven shaft,a friction disk carried by said driven shaft'and adapted to contact withsaidl ywheel, a thrust ring on the opposite side of said disk, a collarmounted on said driven shaft, radially disposed levers carried by saidflywheel and pivoted between their ends, one end of each lever engagingsaid thrust ring and the other engaging said collar,l an embracingelement carried by the flywheel, and a spring disposed outside saidembracing element between -said flywheel'and said collar to reurge saidthrust ring toward said flywheel..

lil. In a clutch, a driving shaft, a flywheel thereon, a driven shaft, afriction disk carried by said driven shaft and adapted to` contact withsaid flywheel, a thrustring on the opposite side of said disk, a collarmounted on said driven shaft, an embracing element carried by theflywheel, radially disposed levers carried by said flywheeland pivotedbetween their ends, one end of each lever engaging saidthrust ring andthe other engaging said collar, and a spring between said flywheel andsaid collar disposed without said embracing element to resiliently urgesaid thrust ring toward said flywheel, a sleeve between said collar andsaid driven shaft, and a throw-out lever adapted to engage said sleeveto throw out said clutch, said sleeve acting as 'a brake upon saiddriven shaft when the clutch is thrown out.

l2. In combination, a driving shaft, a driven shaft, a clutch comprisinga friction disk, a thrust ring engaging said disk 'and having cammedthrust seats thereon, radially disposed levers carried by said drivingshaft and pivoted between their ends, an embracing elementcarried by thedriving shaft, one end of each lever being in contact .with one of saidseats, and means disposed without said embracing element and resilientlyacting `on the other ends of said levers tendine' to throw said clutchin.

13. [n combination, a driving shaft, a driven shaft, a clutch comprisinga friction disk, a thrust ring engaging said disk, radially disposedlevers carried b saiddriving and shaft'and pivoted between t eirends,`one

bracing means resiliently acting on the other ends of said levers andsaid clutch in, means to throw said clutch out, and a brake for saidvdriven shaft operated by said throw-'out means.

14. In combination, a driving shaft, a driven shaft, means tooperatively connect said shafts, radial levers to operate said means,and a spring to control said levers, a member embracing said levers,said spring being in the form of a flattened cone and disposed withoutsaid embracing member disposed substantially parallel to said levers andan angularly adjustable support for said levers.

15. In combination, a driving shaft, a

driven shaft, a housing carried by said drivinw shaft and receiving theend of said operatively connect said driven shaft, means within saidhousing to shafts, radially disposed levers Witliin said housing andadapted to operate said means, and a spring on the outside of saidhousing substantially parallel to said levers and adapted tooperadjustable support for said levers.

16. In combination, a driving shaft, 'a driven shaft, a housing on saiddriving shaft to receive the end of said driven shaft, means within saidhousing to operatively connectsaid shafts, radial levers to operate saidmeans and pivoted between their ends on the inside of said housing, anangularly` adjustable support for said levers, a collar on said -drivenshaft extendingthrougha wall of said housing and engaging said levers,

and a coiled spring outside the housing and between said housing andsaid collar and substantially parallel with 17. In combination, adriving shaft, a driven shaft, a housing on said driving shaft toreceive the end of said driven shaft, means within said housingl tooperatively connect said shafts, radial levers to operate said means andpivoted between their ends on the insideof said housing, a collar onIsaid driven shaft extending through a wall of said housing and engagingsaid levers, a coiled sprin between said housing and said collar ansubstantially parallel with said levers,- a sleeve between said collarand said driven shaft, said spring tending to throw said levers. s.

.cammed thrust seats thereon,

normally retaining said means in operative position, and a throw-outlever for said means adapted to engage said sleeve, en-

gagement of said lever with said sleeve braking said driven shaft.

18. In combinationl a driving shaft, a flywheel thereon, a driven shaft,afriction disk carried by said driven shaft and adapted to contact withsaid flywheel, a thrust ring engaging said disk and having cammed thrustseats thereon, a plate carried by said flywheel, levers pivoted on saidflywheel and each having one end contacting with a thrust seat,a collardisposed on said driven shaft, a spring between said plate and saidcollar and disposed on the opposite side of said plate from said levers,and means to shift said collar. Y

'19. In combination, a driving shaft, a driven shaft, a friction diskcarried by said driven shaft, a flywheel lcarried by said driving shaftand .contacting with said i posed levers pivoted between their endsbetween said flywheel and said plate and having their Outer endscontacting with4 said thrust seats, a collar slidably mounted on saiddriven shaft and engaging the inner ends of said levers and a springdisposed on the side of said plate opposite said levers and engagingsaid collar and means to shift said collar.

20. In combination, a driving shaft, a driven shaft, afriction diskcarried by said driven shaft, a flywheel carried by said driving shaftand contacting with said disk, a thrust ring engaging said disk andhaving a plate carried disposed levers by said ywheel, radially pivotedbetween their ends between said ilywheel and said plate and having theirouter ends contacting with said thrust seats, a collar slidably mountedon said driven shaft and engaging and a spring disposed on the side ofsaid plate oppositesaid levers and engaging said collar and said plate,said spring being in the form of a flattened cone disposed substantiallyparallel to said levers. DAVID E. GAMBLE.

said i plate, and

the inner ends of said levers i

